Job Description

Manager Sales & Growth

Commercial | Audience and Experience

We're looking for a bold, commercially driven Manager Sales & Growth to lead the revenue engine of Te Papa and Tākina. Reporting directly to the Head of Commercial, this is a key commercial leadership role in the organisation, to scale and execute mandate with full accountability for revenue results and profit contribution, leading a high-performing team , and a transformational commercial shift to own.

Purpose of the position

The Manager Sales & Growth owns the annual revenue budget and accountability for driving revenue growth and profit contribution across Te Papa and Tākina's value proposition. For the first time, the sales function is expanding well beyond its traditional conference and events focus to sell and grow revenue across all of the organisation's commercial streams. This role is the force that makes that shift real by driving strategy, supporting the operating model, and taking ownership of steering an agile approach to strategies and tactics as market conditions evolve. The Manager Sales & Growth also leads the Commercial Systems Product Owner, which is a critical team member responsible for delivering system capability that improves productivity, data clarity and commercial insight to drive revenue and profit uplift, ensuring the team is always supported by the right technology to perform at its best.

You'll work in a way that reflects manaakitanga (care and respect), builds whanaungatanga (strong relationships), and encourages auahatanga (continuous improvement).

What success looks like

After your first year, people will describe you as someone who built a high-performing sales team, steered an agile commercial approach that responded smartly to market conditions, and delivered a revenue and profit result the whole team is proud of. You will have embedded a culture of accountability, pipeline discipline and proactive performance management, established a commercial systems environment that drives productivity and insight, and built trusted relationships with clients, partners and leadership alike.

Key responsibilities

Reporting directly to the Head of Commercial, you will own and deliver the annual revenue budget with accountability for revenue growth and profit contribution. You will lead a high-performing commercial team, drive strategic sales initiatives across Te Papa's enterprise revenue streams, and leverage systems, data and market insights to strengthen commercial performance and profitability.

• Own and deliver the annual revenue budget, driving revenue growth and profit contribution.
• Lead, coach and develop a team of Senior Sales Managers, Sales Managers, Sales Coordinators and the Commercial Systems Product Owner.
• Champion the expansion of Te Papa's sales mandate across enterprise revenue streams and respond agilely to evolving market conditions.
• Own the trade show and famil strategy, working closely with Revenue Management and Marketing to deliver commercial outcomes.
• Ensure strong commercial systems capability, data clarity and insight to maximise team productivity and profit uplift.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with key clients, industry partners and internal stakeholders to drive commercial growth.

Skills, experience and behaviours

You will bring significant senior leadership experience and a proven track record of delivering revenue outcomes in a commercially complex environment. As a confident and credible leader, you will combine commercial acumen, business development expertise and a focus on continuous improvement to drive both team performance and business results.

• Minimum five years' experience in a senior leadership role with proven success delivering significant revenue outcomes.
• Demonstrated success leading and scaling high-performing sales teams within commercially focused environments.
• Strong experience across multiple revenue streams, including new business development, key account management and high-value contract negotiation.
• A confident and credible communicator who builds culture, develops capability and sets high performance standards.
• Strong understanding of commercial systems and data-driven tools, with the ability to use insights to improve performance and profitability.

Desirable Experience

• Experience working in a customer-centric environment within a museum, visitor attraction, hospitality and/or events setting.
• Experience developing and applying commercial models to support revenue growth, forecasting and decision-making.
• Commitment to ongoing learning in te ao Māori, tikanga Māori and Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

• Real strategic ownership, with the influence, visibility and scope to make a lasting commercial impact.
• An opportunity to shape a growing commercial function and contribute to an ambitious future vision.
• A bicultural workplace committed to Te Tiriti o Waitangi and creating meaningful experiences for all.
• A values-driven team environment where your expertise is respected and your contribution matters.
• Access to great benefits, including an onsite kindergarten, subsidised parking, café and store discounts, and free entry to paid exhibitions.

Other Information

This is a full-time position, 40 hours per week, based at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Cable Street, Wellington.

For more details, please refer to the Position Description.

If you are viewing this advertisement on a website other than the Te Papa job board, the Position Description may not be accessible. In this case, please visit jobs.tepapa.govt.nz to view the Position Description and apply.

Applicants must have the legal right to work in New Zealand. Pre-employment checks will be undertaken.

The starting salary will be between $131k - $155k per annum. Salary will be based on skills, experience and internal relativities 

How to apply

Please submit your CV and a cover letter via jobs.tepapa.govt.nz
Applications close: 13^th August 2026

If you have questions, please ask

Contact Marna van Blerk – Head of Commercial via marna.vanblerk@tepapa.govt.nz for a confidential discussion.